Role of media

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How does celebrity culture influence your daughter? What is the truth about media influence on body image? Use our practical articles and activities to start talking to your daughter and give her the skills she needs to resist media stereotypes.

In today’s crowded media landscape, the stories that the media chooses to tell about women and girls often present a narrow view of what beauty is. Without widening that definition of beauty and expanding it to include attributes beyond just physical appearance, our daughters will miss out on an opportunity to see a diverse variety of inspiring, intelligent and thoughtful women that they can relate to. Our articles and activities will help you and your daughter replace the messages she is receiving about celebrity culture and female beauty, with those that are more empowering, protecting her body confidence as she grows.

So start reading and sharing with your daughter today – there’s nothing to lose but the stereotypes.

By speaking up about vitiligo, a condition that affects the pigment of the skin, America’s Next Top Model contestant Chantelle Brown-Young is confidently expressing her individuality. Use her experience to start talking to your daughter about celebrating different types of beauty and developing her own positive body image.

Media takes up much space in our lives. As your daughter becomes exposed to multiple media sources, you can help her decode the messages about body image and beauty she receives from the representations of female characters she watches.

When girls’ heads can be easily turned by the latest beauty trend, celebration of thinness can be an ongoing worry for parents of teenagers. So, is the introduction of a new ultra-small clothing size – the triple zero – a cause for concern?

Reality TV: the name suggests unscripted, unedited and unplanned. So, no room for media stereotypes in something spontaneous. However, as one industry insider (who chooses to remain anonymous) tells us, the truth is much more complicated than that. Here’s what they had to say.

Reality TV has a huge influence on our daughters’ lives, and it’s easy to think there’s nothing you can do about it. But the truth is that we can do an enormous amount, within our families and as parents, to counter the influence of their media consumption: when you start realising that, you can’t believe you didn’t know it in the first place.

Worried about the effect that reality TV is having on your teenage daughter? You aren’t being overprotective – there seems to be increasing evidence that reality TV can have a big impact on young people. Here is some useful advice on how to tackle the issue of negative female stereotypes on TV affecting your daughter.

Girls today are surrounded by a hyper-reality celebrity culture that's hard to compete with and could be damaging to their self-image. Celebrity influence is everywhere, from obsessions with celebrity style to following celebrities on Twitter, and we live in a world of 'reality' TV, airbrushed images and photo-sharing social media sites. How is your daughter coping?

Images of women in the media are manipulated so dramatically these days that it can feel like 'beauty' is less and less attainable. Help your daughter resist media influence and see the real picture with our helpful action checklist.

The media is full of retouched images of women that just aren't real. Play our fun Retouch Roulette beauty game with your daughter to see the difference between real and airbrushed images and help her understand she doesn't need to try to compete.

Worried that all your daughter ever sees in magazines and on screen are unrealistic images of ‘perfect’ women? If media stereotypes are getting on your nerves, we have an activity plan for you and your daughter to give them a makeover – and have a lot of fun while you’re doing it.

As young people are exposed to a huge range of media content, through an ever-growing number of channels, a spotlight has been shone on the effect that music videos might have on female stereotypes and the portrayal of women.

Watch the Evolution video to understand how easy it is for our perception of beauty to be manipulated and distorted. Then try our helpful action checklist to start a conversation with your daughter about real beauty.